Commemoration prompts renewed requires an investigation into the killing of African troopers by the French military in 1944.
Senegal has commemorated the eightieth anniversary of a colonial-era bloodbath of African troopers who fought for France throughout World Conflict II and have been shot by French troopers in 1944 for demanding honest remedy and fee on their return.
France’s international affairs minister was in attendance on the ceremony in Thiaroye on Sunday as have been different African heads of state as Senegal continues to demand solutions concerning the bloodbath.
The West African nation has lengthy demanded its former coloniser take accountability, formally apologise and correctly examine the bloodbath that came about in Thiaroye, a fishing village on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
The French army has mentioned 35 to 75 troopers have been killed, however historians dispute this declare, asserting that almost 400 individuals died.
There was worldwide stress to exhume the mass graves to confirm the official dying toll. France has lengthy been accused of falsifying or hiding data, and accounts of the variety of casualties have remained unclear.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye acknowledged that France has not less than acknowledged its troopers carried out the bloodbath in Thiaroye for the primary time.
This acknowledgment got here in a letter written by French President Emmanuel Macron, which was obtained by The Related Press information company.
“France should recognise that on that day, the confrontation between troopers and riflemen who demanded their full, official wages triggered a series of occasions that resulted in a bloodbath,” Macron wrote.
Macron additionally added in his letter that he’s working with Senegalese officers to uncover the reality behind the killings.
In response, Faye mentioned: “We imagine that this time, France’s engagement will likely be full, frank and collaborative.”
Former Senegalese Prime Minister Aminata Toure advised Al Jazeera after the ceremony that “this can be a second of justice” and younger individuals, in a rustic the place 70 p.c of the inhabitants is below the age of 30, have to know the reality about what occurred.
“It’s a reconciliation with their historical past,” she mentioned. “This bloodbath has been hidden, and now we’re unfolding the reality.”
The commemoration comes as France, confronted with rising opposition to its army presence in a number of African nations, has mentioned it’s going to minimize the variety of its troopers as a part of a overview.
Many West African nations have just lately turned to Russia for safety help as a substitute.
